A MARATHON music session will raise funds to highlight road safety in memory of a 10-year-old boy who died after a collision.

Fred Fest will be held on Saturday, September 20 at the Christian Life Centre, formerly the Regal, in Cowley Road, Oxford, in memory of Freddie Perry.

The youngster died after running between two parked vehicles and being struck by a car in Oxford Crescent, Didcot, on September 10 last year.

Father Lea and mother Judith set up the Fred Perry Foundation, which they are hoping to register officially as a charity, to raise money for road safety schemes such as speed limit reductions.

The 12-hour show will begin at noon and feature Get Loose, Cop Out, Sylva Kay, The Rollrights and Gypsy Miguel.

Freddie Perry

Coach driver Mr Perry, 40, said: “We want to raise as much money as possible for the Fred Perry Foundation, which was set up in Freddie’s name to raise money for road safety awareness.

“It’s a very emotional time for the family — it’s Freddie’s birthday on Wednesday – he would have been 11.”

Mr Perry, who also has children Rhiannon, 15, and Eloise, 11, with his 42-year-old wife, said: “Raising money so we can campaign for road safety gives us something to focus on.”

Other fundraising activities include eBay auctions and a scooter run involving about 30 people in fancy dress from Abingdon Market Place at 10am on Saturday, August 9.

They will arrive at the Wheatsheaf in Wantage Road, Didcot, for a fundraising day from 1pm.

At Freddie’s inquest in April, a coroner heard the car was going at about 20mph along the 30mph street.

He was told the Stephen Freeman Community Primary School pupil ran out between a Ford Galaxy car and a Vauxhall Vivaro van, which would have obscured the driver’s view.

He ruled the death as an accident.

After campaigning by the family, Oxfordshire County Council proposed cutting the limit to 20mph between Wantage Road and Slade Road with traffic calming measures. A consultation finished on Friday and a decision will be made next month.

Tickets for Fred Fest are £10 for adults. Children will get in free and there will be a bar and a barbecue.

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